“My name is Drew and I’m a piano, vocal and woodwind tutor here at XYZ Music Academy.

I started piano lessons at the age of 5 and flute when I was 10. By the time I went to Kingston University to study music I had achieved grade 8 on both instruments. During my time in Kingston I started playing both clarinet and saxophone, which I now have grade 7 and 8 in respectively, and I have been teaching all four instruments for the past 23 years.

As a singer, I initially learned classical technique and performed in a number of opera productions. More recently I have specialised in musical theatre as a vocal coach rather than as a performer and have taught vocals and acting through song for specialist performing arts colleges. Occasionally I can still be spotted on stage.

From 2017 to 2022 I performed and played keyboards as part of the children’s stage show Mr Bloom and his Band featuring the character Mr Bloom from BBC CBeebies. I had the opportunity to tour the country quite extensively and appear at major festivals such as Glastonbury and Camp Bestival.

I also play keyboards for singer/songwriter Steve Young which has taken me to numerous festivals around Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, as well as further afield for performances at Black Deer Festival and Isle of Wight Festival.

My real passion is musical theatre and I have been involved in over 100 productions in the last 10 years, including a number of professional shows and pantomimes but also community, amateur and youth theatre. I mainly work as a musical director and vocal coach, but frequently play piano or woodwind for productions as well. I am particularly passionate about youth theatre and developing a new generation of performers and this has led to work on a number of large scale projects with young people.”